Ordoa's Arena
by 8DemigodRunner8
Summary: Percy, Thalia, and Nico have been kidnapped and thrown into a metal arena by Ordoa, the goddess of competition and rank. She is forcing them to compete in a battle to the death. Obviously, the three friends don't want to hurt each other, but Ordoa has her ways of persuading people. Will the children of the Big Three battle each other? And will they ever escape Ordoa's arena?
1. Welcome to Ordoa's Arena

**Hey Everyone! It's 8DemigodRunner8 here, and welcome to my second FanFiction! I created this story because I love seeing Thalia, Nico, and Percy together. The story "Percy and the Sword of Hades" in The Demigod Files is one of my favorites, and I wanted to write another adventure involving the trio. And so, this fanfiction was born! **

**Disclaimer: I don't own Percy Jackson and the Olympians.**

**(PS) For those of you reading my other story, "Each Other's Lifelines," this takes place at the end of Chapter 1.**

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Thalia's POV

"Uugh," Thalia groaned, sitting up on the cold metal ground and rubbing her eyes. Wait. Cold metal ground? Where was she? Looking around hurriedly, the huntress saw nothing but darkness for what seemed like miles on end.

_Calm down,_ Thalia told her speeding heart. _Just think for a minute. What's the last thing you remember?_

That was easy. She had been in a thick forest of pine trees up north, where she'd been tracking down a single dracanae that had seemed lost. She remembered signaling her snow-white wolf forward, crouching down behind a large bush.

Thalia had been slowly pulling out an arrow from her quiver, knowing fully well that the monster was just around the corner. She lifted her bow into the air and, notching her arrow in place, jumped up in order to shoot. Before her fingers had even lifted off her arrow, she had felt a hard thump on the back of her head, and she'd fallen unconscious.

So where was she now? Was the darkness from the night? Had she slept _that long_? No, impossible. This darkness was blacker than the night, and she seemed to be inside, judging by the freshly air-conditioned temperature and the metal floor she was presently seated on.

Thalia cautiously got to her feet and stood up, trying to make as little sound as possible. Her experience as a hunter made this a pretty easy thing to do.

Since she always felt better when she was armed, Thalia reached behind her to grab an arrow. Her heart skipped a beat when her hand felt nothing behind her. Even her quiver had disappeared. And where was her bow? Her wolf?

She couldn't help it; she was now officially scared. The immortal demigod stared out into the darkness, searching for anything that would clue her in to what was going on.

_Click._ Suddenly, a bright light shot down from above, momentarily blinding Thalia. "Ah!" she exclaimed, hands flying to her face in order to shield her electric blue eyes. Once her eyes had adjusted, she noticed that the light was acting as a spotlight, surrounding only her, proving her theory that she was indoors.

_Click. Click._ The noise soon signaled two more spotlights to turn on, one fairly close and slightly to her left, and the second farther away and straight ahead. Together, the spotlights could be described as following a crescent shape.

To her relief and apprehension, two more figures could be seen, one in each spotlight. And…they were familiar.

The one to her left shone on a young boy, maybe 14 years old, who was laying on his back and propping himself up with his elbows. His aviator jacket looked worn-out and dirty, and on his hand a silver skull ring glittered in the light. His black hair was untidy and greasy, like he hadn't showered in a week or so.

"Nico?" Thalia asked incredulously. The boy turned to look at her, and his big eyes widened.

"Thalia? What…What are you doing here? What am _I_ doing here?"

"I wish I could tell you, but I haven't got a clue."

The sounds of the two demigods' voices must've awakened the third person, who was groaning and sitting up, a hand on his head.

He also had black hair, which looked like it had been attacked by the wind, and he wore a weathered, beaten-up orange T-shirt. His bright green eyes peeked open, trying to adjust to the light.

"Woah, what happened?" the third demigod mumbled.

"Percy!" Nico and Thalia shouted, both surprised and excited to see their cousin.

"Thalia? Nico?" he said, slowly getting to his feet. He looked around briefly before turning back to his friends. "Where are we?"

"No idea," Nico said with a shrug.

"Oh my gods, Percy! Where have you been the last, what, six months?" Thalia rushed, spilling out all her thoughts. For weeks and weeks she'd been scouring the nation for the lost demigod, searching every corner, every cave, every place in existence. She'd battled thousands of monsters just trying to get a clue to his whereabouts. And now…he just _shows up here_? "What have you been DOING all this time?"

Percy cleared his throat and began his explanation. "Well, for starters, I had quite the case of amnesia, then I was questing in Alaska in order to help out the Romans, with whom your brother lives, apparently. I defeated a giant, was crowned praetor, then hopped on Leo's flying warship and sailed off to the real Rome, where I was spending my time fighting more giants and falling into the depths of Tartarus."

Thalia stared at Percy, speechless. Whatever she'd thought his answer would be, it wasn't that.

"And Nico here was no help _at all_ with helping me find my way back to Camp," Percy finished with a glare at the son of Hades.

"I couldn't say anything to you! If I did, I'd be messing with-"

"Guys! It doesn't matter right now, alright?" Thalia interjected, trying to avoid a fight. "We've got bigger problems. For example, where in the Hades are we?"

The three demigods looked around yet again, hoping to catch a glimpse of something in the darkness.

Percy opened his mouth to say something when he was cut off by a voice echoing around the room.

"Welcome, children of the Big Three, to my arena." All the lights blasted on, causing Thalia, Nico, and Percy to yelp and cover their eyes yet again. After a few seconds had passed, they could finally get a good look around. They were in a giant metal dome- no windows, no doors, nothing but gleaming silver metal.

"What the-" Thalia started, but she was cut off again when the voice continued to speak.

"I bet you are all wondering why I've brought you here," the person said. Then, in the middle of the room and the demigod trio, smoke poured out of the floor, wisping this way and that before evaporating to reveal a woman.

She had light brown hair tied up in a bun that had a thick braid hanging from underneath it. Her bright white toga was short, going down to her mid-thighs. She wore golden sandals that wrapped all the way up to her knees, and a red sash was tied around her small waist. She had golden earrings on and red armbands, and red ribbon was entwined in her hair.

Her eyes, however, were the most startling feature on her body. They looked like they were filled with a lust for power, a need for…something. Thalia couldn't quite place what it was.

"I am Ordoa, the Roman Goddess of Competition and Rank." She paused to let that sink in for effect. Continuing, the goddess began to calmly pace between the demigods. "You see, back in the glorious days of the Roman Empire, I was powerful." The goddess' eyes looked lost in a pleasant reverie as she continued. "Competitions were everywhere, whether it be for entertainment in the Coliseum or the battles of conquest the soldiers fought so often. Nowadays, fierce competition is a bit lacking. There are very few fight-to-the-death battles going on; even the social rank, my other hemisphere of control, is less enforced in this land of…America." She spat the name with hatred.

"So now, I am being forced to create my own fights, my own competitions, and what a better one to watch than one between some of the most powerful demigods alive, the children of the Big Three themselves!" Thunder sounded at the end of her speech, loud and clear, even though they were inside.

"So, you basically took us out of our lives, out of what we were in the middle of doing, just to watch us fight each other?" Nico asked.

Ordoa didn't even pause before answering, "Sure. It's not like you had anything better to do."

"Are you KIDDING ME?" Percy shouted, outraged. "My girlfriend is plummeting down into Tartarus, _alone now_, just so I can give you a show?"

"Um, of course!" The goddess looked as if she could care less about Percy's predicament.

"Annabeth's falling into _Tartarus?_" Thalia said, stunned with shock and disbelief.

With a wave of his hand, Percy said, "Well, I was too before I was abducted, but that's kind of a long story. Right now, we need to get out of here." Percy stared angrily at Ordoa, who didn't even seem to register his frustration. If she did, she obviously didn't care.

Percy took this as the last straw. Uncapping Riptide, Percy began to walk over to Ordoa, but he stopped when he reached the edge of the spotlight and let out a yell, jumping backwards. His hair stood on end and was steaming.

"Oh, I forgot to tell you, each one of you is encased in an electric force field that will only be released when I began the fight." Ordoa tapped the glass of the force field, but she didn't flinch away at its electrocution. "Doesn't hurt me, just you," she said with an evil smile.

_She might be even worse than Hera_, Thalia thought bitterly. _That's not good_.

"And if we refuse to fight?" Nico asked, his arms crossed.

Ordoa moved over to his area, eyes narrowed, where she leaned in as close as she could to whisper, "_Then I'll make you."_ Nico gulped and took a step back, not needing to ask any further questions.

Ordoa laughed at his discomfort, then disappeared in a puff of smoke. Up above, near the top of the dome, a wide window opened up, revealing a room from which Ordoa could watch. She was sprawled on a purple velvet throne, and two nymphs were there with platters of fruit and drinks.

"If I'm going to create the battle of the century, I may as well watch in style," the goddess mused with a chuckle.

She snapped her bony fingers and the nymph with the drinks stumbled over nervously to her side. Ordoa snatched one of the silver goblets resting on the platter and took a big swig of the drink.

"As you can see, I had originally left your arena blank in order to see a true battle between you without advantages to any one person. However, knowing the extent of your demigod powers, I've changed my mind."

Ordoa raised her hand and lazily gestured to the arena, where storm clouds began to brew in the sky, a lake emerged from the ground, and bones were littered all across the floor.

"Do what you want with my tools, just give me a good show." Ordoa went to stand up, flinging her goblet to the side, and approached the open windowsill. One of the nymphs dove down in order to catch the cast-aside drink.

"On my mark, my force fields will go down and you _will_ fight." Ordoa smiled menacingly and raised her hand high above her head. "Don't disappoint me."

"One…" Nico and Percy had their swords at the ready, but it was clear they had no intention of using them.

"Two." Thalia had her shield aegis appear and pulled out a sword that Ordoa had forgotten to confiscate. Or maybe she'd left it there on purpose…

"Three!" Ordoa's arm swung down, and with that a whoosh of air swept harshly through the room.

Thalia reached forward in order to test the force field. Like the goddess had said, it was gone. Percy and Nico also stepped forward, but they made no attempt to attack one another.

A few seconds of silence passed before Ordoa yelled down furiously, "Go ahead, fight! I want to see blood shed; I want to see a battle of epic proportions!" She was met with an awkward silence. "Why won't you fight?" She was beginning to sound like a whiny kindergartner who wasn't getting their way.

"Look, lady," Thalia said, walking over to her two cousins. She put her arms around each of them. "We're all friends. Family, even."

Percy joined in by saying, "There's no chance we'll be killing each other."

Nico rolled his eyes at the goddess and moaned, "Can't you just let us go? I was busy trying to rescue, well, him-" He pointed at Percy. "-and his girlfriend. I've got people expecting me back on the Argo II right now."

"NO!" Ordoa yelled furiously, stomping her foot. "I brought you here to see a fight, and _I will see a fight!"_

The storm clouds above darkened, and thunder rolled across the arena. Ordoa's eyes began to glow a bright orange, like they were about to set on fire.

Thalia had just begun to wonder if they should've faked a fight just to make her happy rather than face her wrath when Ordoa cleared her throat and seemed to compose herself. When she opened her eyes again, they were normal.

"I figured something like this would happen, so I brought along a little…_leverage_."

The goddess turned around briefly and whistled. Into the viewing area came three soldiers, each carrying a person wrapped up in rope and gagged.

"For Thalia." Ordoa sauntered over to the first prisoner and yanked on their blonde hair, making him face the three demigods. He had blue eyes just like Thalia, and even though she couldn't see it from where she was standing, Thalia knew he had a little scar on his upper lip.

"Jason!" she yelled. Her brother tried to say something through the gag, but Ordoa kneed him the gut, making him hunch over in pain. Thalia's heart stopped. That…that _demon_ had just hurt her brother. Oh, Ordoa was _not_ getting away with this; she would pay.

"For you, Nico." Ordoa tilted the head of a small African-American girl upwards, making her shining golden eyes visible; they were filled with tears.

"Hazel," Nico gasped. Thalia had never met this girl named Hazel, but she figured she was somebody special to Nico. Definitely not his girlfriend- Nico just wasn't that kind of guy. Maybe…a close friend? Family member? Turning to glare at Ordoa, Nico shouted, "Let her go!"

"Only if you fight," Ordoa scoffed, walking over to the last prisoner, and by far the largest. "Last but not least: for you, Percy." This prisoner looked up on his own, and Percy immediately knew who it was.

"Tyson? Tyson!" If looks could kill, Ordoa would've been dead from Percy's reaction.

"What's he ever done to you, huh?" Percy asked angrily, gesturing to his half-brother.

"Nothing, but he will get you to fight, especially considering your fatal flaw…"

Percy ignored her last comment and continued to stare helplessly at the three prisoners.

"Bruduh!" Tyson mumbled through the gag, attempting to say 'Brother!"

"It's okay Tyson, I'll get you out of here," Percy assured the cyclops.

"We'll get you all out of here," Thalia added.

"Here's the deal," Ordoa called down to the three half bloods. "You either fight, or I will kill them all."

All three of their jaws dropped.

"You wouldn't," Nico begged.

"Oh, but I would." Ordoa looked satisfied with her deal, smirking at seeing how much the bargain had affected her competitors. "Let's try this again.

"One."

"Two."

_"Three!"_

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**Will Thalia, Percy, and Nico cooperate? Find out in Chapter 2!**

**Just to clear this up, Ordoa is an OC, and I have no idea if a god/goddess for Competition and Rank already exists. I know Nike is the goddess of victory, but Ordoa is more about the competition aspect of it and the lust for victory. She does have a relation to Nike, however, that will be revealed later on. **

**Please review, favorite, and/or follow! Constructive criticism is welcome.**

**-8DemigodRunner8**


	2. The Battle to the Death

**Wow! I was truthfully surprised at the positive feedback this story received with only one chapter! I'm so excited for you all to read this next one!**

**Disclaimer: I do not own Percy Jackson and the Olympians, nor do I own Heroes of Olympus.**

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Percy's POV

"_Three!"_

Percy hesitantly turned to face Thalia and Nico. His whole body was shaking from witnessing Tyson gagged and captured; the poor Cyclops would never hurt a fly, and now his life was on the line because of Percy.

Percy had never been able to stand the sight of the big guy in pain, and now, if Percy didn't kill his other friends, he'd have to watch Ordoa end Tyson's life.

Hazel was up there as prisoner, too. Percy hadn't known Hazel for too long, but she had been nice to him in a time of need, quested with him, and trusted him, so he trusted her in return. He might as well have known Hazel for his whole life judging by the closeness of their friendship.

Jason, Thalia's brother, was the last prisoner Ordoa had abducted. Percy _still_ could not believe that they were siblings; where Thalia was a hardcore punk with an ego the size of Olympus, Jason was a calm, noble Roman leader. Percy hadn't had too much time to get to know him, but he was still his friend, and that was enough.

It scared Percy that Ordoa knew his fatal flaw. In the words of a certain daughter of Athena, "_It's called fatal for a reason."_

Percy couldn't let any of his friends get hurt on his account. He'd do anything to save them, even…even if it cost him the world.

Athena had told him that once, and for the first time Percy believed it. His friends _were_ his whole world, and he wouldn't want to live without them.

Now, however, he was being forced to murder two of them. Or was he…

All three demigods were armed and at the ready, standing in a circle and facing each other.

"Alright guys, here's the plan," Thalia whispered, trying to prevent Ordoa from overhearing their conversation. She was, however, a goddess, so there was a good chance that she had super hearing or something and whispering would do nothing to block out their conversation.

At the moment, fortunately, Ordoa seemed preoccupied with scolding one of her nymph servants. Percy shuddered when he saw them. At Camp Half-Blood the nymphs, naiads, and dryads could roam freely, living their lives happily as untamed spirits.

Seeing them hand-cuffed with chains and forced to serve a rotten snob like Ordoa was truly horrifying, and if Percy ever got out of this, he promised to save those nymphs. Coming back into the present, Percy paid attention once again to Thalia. Blame his ADHD for distracting him for so long.

"-so none of us gets hurt. Just fake it, okay? Like you're at sword fighting practice. Hopefully we'll give her a good enough show."

With a curt nod to each of them, Thalia let out a battle cry and charged Nico, who quickly brought his Stygian sword upward to block her swing.

Percy twirled Riptide in his hand once before running into the battle. He swung down in the middle of their sword fight to break it up, causing Nico to stab at Percy next. Percy carelessly sidestepped, feigning concern over his almost being shish-kebobed.

Once they got into it, fake fighting was actually pretty fun! Thalia sliced at Percy, who parried and threw in a swing of his own. She hefted up Aegis as Riptide came down, and the celestial bronze rang out clearly on contact. The sound pierced through the silence of the dome, which had only previously been interrupted by clangs of swords and the occasional grunt from a demigod as they fought off a particularly hard fake-swing.

Sadly, Thalia, Nico, and Percy's fun ended within five minutes, when Ordoa stood up from her huge throne and stormed over to her balcony.

"WHAT is THAT? You call that fighting? Where's the blood and gore? Where is the effort, the rage? I'm so bored that I might even let you go and find a new bunch of half-bloods to fight for me!" Ordoa said as if this was an outrageous thought.

Percy couldn't hold back the smile that spread across his face at the mention of their freedom. Thalia and Nico were also smirking, and Thalia even had to cover her mouth with her hand in order to keep from grinning like a maniac. Their plan had worked, sort of.

"However, where am I going to find a batch of half-bloods with such an amazing reputation for fighting as you three? I'm going to give you one last chance to give me a show. If you don't, I will be forced to…intervene."

"Now, fight."

Nico rolled his eyes as he turned to continue faking a sword fight, and Percy sighed at the thought of having to make a believable fight for much longer.

Apparently, Ordoa didn't like attitude- although she sure had a _stellar_ one- because at the sight of Percy's and Nico's disrespect, she let out a gasp of disbelief before screaming down at them, "You know what? I'm not going to put up with that kind of disrespect to a_ goddess!_"

Suddenly, her power-hungry eyes filled with an orange light, and the clouds above them once again darkened.

"Uh oh," Percy grimaced.

"I warned you that I'd intervene, and so I will!" Flying down from her perch like an evil crow, Ordoa soared straight at Thalia.

"Aah!" Thalia screamed as the goddess approached her rapidly. Thalia didn't even have time to lift her sword before Ordoa collided with the daughter of Zeus.

"Thuhluh!" Jason yelled down from the throne room, his words muffled through the gag. His eyes were wide with fear for his sister, and he struggled profusely against his bonds.

Percy watched, terrified, as Thalia stiffened as if she'd been electrocuted- which in truth wouldn't have done anything to her, but still. Her blue eyes were huge, and slowly they began to glow. They…glowed _orange_.

Ordoa was nowhere in sight.

Coming out of her trance, orange-eyed Thalia swung her sword outwards as if getting a feel for it.

"It's been awhile since I've done this trick," Thalia mused, half to her self.

"Th-Thalia? What are you talking about?" Nico asked, backing away from his cousin.

"Hmm? Oh, I believe I should explain myself. Thalia is…temporarily out of commission. You see, I'm Ordoa. I'm simply overshadowing Thalia's body in order to get a fiercer fight out of you two." Thalia- or Ordoa, whatever you wanted to call her- smiled as she snapped her fingers and created a spark of lightning. "Oh, this'll be fun."

"You're possessing Thalia?" Percy asked, looking a little disgusted and horrified at the thought of it.

"I told you I'd be forced to intervene, so here I am, intervening." Possesssed, Thalia smirked at Percy, then yelled, "En garde!"

She thrust her sword out at Percy, making him leap backwards. Now he really did need to fight; no more faking.

Thalia came in closer and full-on attacked, while Percy parried every move but made no attempt at offense. He didn't want to hurt Thalia.

At one point, Nico tried to join in, but Thalia simply pointed at the sky and lightning shot down from the clouds, striking Nico on the chest. The 14-year-old let out a shriek as the electricity coursed its way through his body, leaving him collapsed on the floor, steaming and unconscious.

"Nico!" Percy shouted, and then he turned to glare at Thalia/Ordoa. "Oh, it's _on_." Percy waved his free hand up into the air, and a familiar feeling began to tug on his gut. Until now, he'd forgotten about the lake about 7 feet behind him, and now he planned to use it to his advantage.

A wave of crystalline water rose over Percy's head, blocking out some of the lights on the ceiling and casting a dark shadow over the two dueling demigods.

"This is for Nico." With that, Percy slammed the wave down onto Thalia, washing her away to the far end of the arena. Once the tidal wave had dispersed and turned into various puddles on the floor, Thalia could be seen gasping for air and wiping her sopping wet hair out of her face. Her glowing eyes seemed to burn right through Percy's soul.

"How _dare_ you attempt to drown a goddess!" Thalia screeched, unsteadily standing up.

"Technically, at the moment you're _not _a goddess, you're just a demigod," Percy pointed out. "Also, I wasn't going to drown you. If I'd wanted to, you'd be passed out on the ground right now. Drowning you would mean killing Thalia, and that's not going to happen."

"Suit yourself," Thalia growled. "But I don't have _any_ problems killing _you_!" Thalia bent down to gain momentum and shot into the air, hovering halfway across the arena from where Percy was standing.

The son of Poseidon was admittedly shocked at seeing Thalia fly. He knew for a fact that she'd never done it before. However, Jason was able to fly, so why wouldn't his sister be able to?

_That's right_, Percy remembered. _She's afraid of heights_. Of course she'd never flown before; she didn't have the guts.

Wow. Thalia not having the guts to do something. That was new.

Unfortunately, Ordoa did not share that fear, and as of the moment she was gathering a giant ball of lightning in her hands. It continued to grow by the second, and Thalia called down, "Say goodbye to the world, Percy Jackson."

She let the ball loose, sending it hurtling down towards the lone demigod. With a yelp, he dove to the side, the explosion from the electric sphere sending him flying a couple more feet.

Thalia let out an exasperated sigh. "You weren't supposed to move!" she complained, stomping her foot angrily in the air.

"Someone's got a temper, huh?" Percy taunted, haphazardly standing up and trying to keep his balance. His hair was standing on end from his close encounter with being electrocuted, and his body was taking a minute to recover from his short flight.

"I do NOT have a temper!" Ordoa screamed, sending a second lightening bolt down to strike Percy.

Percy jumped to the side, easily avoiding this lightening bolt. "Time for a trick of my own," Percy declared.

He daringly closed his eyes, blocking off his senses and ability to know if Ordoa was about to attack. Hopefully she'd be too interested in seeing his 'trick' to strike him down.

Percy sent out his senses to the clouds above, feeling the power and uncontrolled wind circulating in furious circles, desperately wanting to blow everything and anything down that got in its way. _Here's your chance_, Percy thought to the wind.

It was true that he'd never tried something like this before. The closest he'd come was having his own personal hurricane during a battle. Could he make a full-scale one?

Percy felt the wind ruffling his hair and slapping at his clothes, swiftly gaining speed and ferocity.

"What's going on?" he distantly heard Thalia ask. Rain began to pelt his face, and the wind was beginning to sting. By now he heard Thalia scream, not in pain but in frustration and panic.

He finally opened his eyes, and the first thing he saw was Thalia's possessed body trying to stay afloat in the air. She was beginning to be pulled away in the current, and she was visibly struggling to push against the wind.

"The sea does not like to be restrained," Percy called up to her, quoting his father, "and apparently neither does a storm." After that, all chaos broke loose. Thalia lost her control on the wind and was whipped away, soaring crazily in wide circles as the hurricane picked up pace. The lake's water was being thrown up into the air, splashing around and creating even more rain.

Something caught Percy's eye, and he turned to see Nico beginning to be dragged on the ground by the wind.

Percy shuffled over to his unconscious cousin, careful not to interrupt the storm, and picked him up bridal style. He didn't want Nico to be hurt by the hurricane. In fact, he didn't want it to hurt Thalia either.

He noticed her terrified expression as she continued to fly through the air, having lost all control over the wind to Percy. At the speeds she was going, she was guaranteed to slam into a wall and break some bones, if the impact didn't kill her.

"No, this isn't what I wanted," Percy mumbled to himself. "Stop. Stop!" Percy frantically tried to cut the hurricane short, but it turned out that what Percy had said about the storm not wanting to be restrained was even more true than he'd thought. Percy had lost his control over it.

Carrying Nico with him, Percy stepped into the strong wind, barely able to maintain his position on the ground.

"Stop, please!" he screamed into the air, trying his best to will it to stop. The hurricane ignored him, and instead it seemed to pick up speed.

Thalia continued to scream at the top of her lungs as she tumbled through the air. Maybe the wind had known that Percy had not wanted to kill Thalia, or maybe the daughter of Zeus had just slipped out of the air current, but the next thing Percy knew, his overshadowed friend was being shot towards him at hurricane speed.

"Ah!" Percy yelled, trying to get away. Before he'd moved two feet, Thalia flew into Percy, knocking him and Nico to the ground. Percy dropped Nico to the side, causing him to stir. However, he didn't wake up.

Percy's head slammed onto the hard metal floor of the arena as Thalia collapsed on his stomach, trying to get her bearings after her scary flight.

"Ow," Percy moaned, lifting his hand and rubbing the back of his head. Thalia, noticing where she was, oddly smiled, shifting her weight and swinging her leg over Percy so that she straddled his stomach.

"Uh, Th-Thalia? I mean, Ordoa? W-What are you doing?" Percy stammered, trying to scoot away.

"What I brought you here to see," she snarled, raising her sword above Percy's stomach. "A battle to the _death_!"

Thalia, her glowing eyes filled with evil, plunged the sword down right underneath Percy's ribcage.

Percy squeezed his eyes shut in agony and let out a blood-curdling scream, clutching his side.

Gasping, Thalia clutched her own stomach as a shudder passed through her body and her eyes returned to their electric blue color. Ordoa materialized next to Thalia, grinning down at her kill.

"See how entertaining that was, Thalia? Be thankful I chose you as the victor and not the victim," the goddess smirked as she flew back to her throne, where she collapsed onto her throne with exaggerated flourish. Almost immediatly, a nymph ran over to her and whispered something urgently into Ordoa's ear, causing the goddess to sigh heavily and slip out of her seat once more.

"I must attend to an important matter, so I'll leave you to your victory. Don't go anywhere!" Chuckling, she said, "Not like you have anywhere you _can_ go." The goddess sauntered out of the room, leaving Thalia sitting over Percy's body.

Thalia began to cry, looking around hurriedly for something to stop the blood flowing from Percy's wound. She'd pulled her sword out and cast it aside, not wanting to look at it.

What had Ordoa done? What…What had _she_ done?

Ripping off the edge of her shirt, Thalia pressed it against Percy's injury, making him wince.

"I'm sorry, I'm sorry, oh gods Percy, _I'm so sorry!_" Thalia cried as she brushed the son of Poseidon's black hair out of his eyes.

"It's okay, Thalia," Percy croaked. "I don't…blame you…"

Percy coughed, trying to get air into his lungs. The moment he'd been stabbed, the hurricane had stopped, creating a stifling idleness to the air around them.

"Percy, Percy, stay with me, okay? Don't die!"

Percy nodded, but he couldn't stop his eyes from closing.

Looking from Nico to Percy, both currently unconscious, Thalia sobbed.

_"What have I done?"_

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**I just _love_ dramatic scenes, don't you? :) You all probably think I'm evil for killing Percy, but don't worry, this story isn't finished yet!**_  
_

**A big thank you to Jamieandtj, Guthans, Valou-Luna, ElementalEvolution, Harmoniously Insane, Zeester, RememberThatCoolPerson, and rooted to the earth for all the follows!**

**ElementalEvolution: Thank you! Actually, I'm planning this to be MORE than two-shot, so you'll get an even longer story!**

**rooted to the earth: Wow, thank you! I always plan to update as soon as I can, no worries :) .**

**Please continue to read, review, follow, and/or favorite! Advice and constructive criticism is welcome. Also, if anyone has any ideas or events they'd like to see happen, don't hesitate to let me know!**

**-8DemigodRunner8**


	3. The Revival

**Hello again, everybody! Sorry for the wait- I had a bad case of Writer's Block. I'm so happy with the feedback this story has been getting! Thank you all so much for reading! I'll get to specific thank-you's at the end of the chapter.**

**Disclaimer: I don't own Percy Jackson and the Olympians/Heroes of Olympus**

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Jason's POV

Jason was officially scarred for life.

For starters, he'd been having a nice moment with Piper up on the decks of the Argo II. They'd been stargazing and comforting each other after Percy and Annabeth's fall.

They'd kissed. Jason had gone down to his room to get ready for bed. Then…_bang._ He'd been hit in the back of the head by a miscellaneous object and knocked unconscious.

When Jason had woken up, he was tied up with rope, gagged, and being dragged into a throne room occupied by a crazy Roman goddess.

At Camp Jupiter, Ordoa was known for her extreme competitiveness and superior attitude. Everyone would agree that she was not a favorite among the legion, and luckily she had no demigod children to annoy and aggravate the rest of the campers. Anyone who was kidnapped by her was, to be frank, doomed.

After Jason had been abducted by this immortal lunatic, he'd been forced to watch as his sister became possessed by said lunatic and battle it out with Percy and Nico. Then, he'd had no choice but to sit and observe as Thalia maniacally sank her sword deep into Percy's torso.

Yep, he was scarred.

Jason turned his head to sneak a peek at Hazel and the Cyclops, his fellow prisoners.

Hazel had her head down, her curly brown hair falling forward and covering her face. Her sadness, however, was not hidden; Jason could see little drops of water falling onto the ground from beneath the cloud of hair like a rainstorm. Her occasional sobs represented the thunder.

What truly surprised Jason the most was the Cyclops' reaction. His big brown eyes were brimming with tears, and he was shaking uncontrollably as if he had hypothermia.

The monster, apprantly named Tyson, had been wriggling around so much that his gag had slipped off, and Tyson screamed out, "BROTHER!"

_Brother?_ Jason thought. _Percy has a brother…who's a Cyclops?_

Hazel seemed unfazed by this sudden outburst, as if she'd already known about Percy's secret sibling. Which, in retrospect, was very possible. She had been on a long quest with Percy as well as had lots of time to talk with him and therefore probably knew more about Percy than Jason did. Now that he thought about it, Jason didn't know much about anyone, save for Leo, Piper, and Reyna. Other than those three, Jason hadn't learned much about other people and their lives. He'd always been a bit secluded, so wrapped up in maintaining a strong appearance and a supported praetorship. He didn't even know anything about his own sister.

Suddenly, something clicked in Jason's mind. The mention of Thalia triggered a flashback to watching her fly around the arena, and Jason remembered that _he_ could fly as well. The nymphs had left them propped against the balcony so that they were forced to see the battle take place, but the prisoners were not, in fact, _tied_ to anything.

Jason didn't need the use of his arms or legs to control the air currents to lift him up. All he needed was his mind. Could escaping really be this easy?

The son of Zeus closed his eyes tight and focused on the air around him. He had felt how still the air had become after Percy had been…No, Jason refused to believe he was dead yet. He still had time, though very little.

Responding to Jason's will, the wind soon rushed underneath the boy's body and slowly lifted him up into the air.

Jason had underestimated the need for his limbs in flight, and almost immediately he discovered that he couldn't stay balanced without them. With a yelp muffled by his gag, Jason slipped upside down, luckily still hovering in the air and not knocking himself out on the ground only a foot below.

Hazel, who'd lifted her head in order to watch her friend's attempt at escape, found herself face to face with blonde praetor, golden eyes staring into blue.

Hair hanging down from his head, Jason tried for a reassuring smile, but the gag made it impossible to do, so Jason went back to trying to fly.

Beads of sweat dripped down Jason's forehead as he concentrated harder- actually, the sweat was dripping _up_ his forehead because of his present upside down situation. He was rewarded as the air righted Jason so that he could fly properly.

_Take me down,_ Jason commanded in his mind, and he soared straight into the arena...heading directly for Thalia.

"Wash uht!" Jason warned through the gag, attempting to yell 'Watch out!' Thalia turned her tear-streaked face just in time to be hit by her flying brother and be knocked off and away from Percy.

"Jason!" Thalia exclaimed, both from surprise and joy. Jason, still wrapped up snugly in rope, rolled off his sister and sat up on the cold, wet arena floor. The rain storm had left puddles of all sizes splattered about the metal dome, and he was presently sitting in one.

"I hab a pwan!" Jason declared urgently, though it sounded much less authoritative when the words were distorted by the cloth in his mouth.

"Here, hold on," Thalia sniffed, sitting up as well and reaching to undo Jason's gag.

"Jeez," Thalia commented as her fingers worked on the gag's knot. "Ordoa can sure tie a mean knot." Finally, the cloth loosened and fell away, leaving Jason free to speak.

"First, could you untie my ropes?" Jason asked, leaning his head down and to the side to gesture at the bonds circling his body.

"Oh, oh yeah, sorry," Thalia said, quickly wiping at her eyes and reaching for her sword. When she grabbed its grip and pulled it forward, she caught a glimpse of the blood on the end and choked, chucking it away. She instead, with shaking hands, reached over to Nico and pulled out his Stygian Iron sword.

As soon as the ropes were severed, Jason pulled them all off and scooted back over to Percy.

The son of Poseidon, his eyes closed and hands gripping his wound, went into a short coughing fit, leaving him shaking with pain.

"At least he's alive still," Jason sighed. He carefully removed Percy's blood soaked hands from the injury and tossed the old soiled cloth away. Next, flipping his golden coin into a sword, he used it to cut off a long shred off his Camp Jupiter shirt to use as a bandage, wrapping it all the way around Percy's midsection.

"There," Jason said with finality. Turning around, Jason had been about to ask Thalia if she had any ambrosia on her; the sight he was greeted with sent a pang of sorrow through his heart. Thalia was sitting with her knees pulled up and head down in her arms. Her shoulders were shaking, and Jason could hear the sound of someone softly sobbing.

Even though Jason felt as upset as Thalia, he knew he had to keep a calm air about him. Years as a leader can do that to person; they learn to bury their emotions for the benefit of others.

Now, Jason had to be in charge or else Thalia would have a mental breakdown and Percy wouldn't make it. Jason needed her to focus.

Leaning towards her, Jason's strong hands gripped her shoulders, making her look up at him reluctantly.

"Thalia, listen to me. Pull yourself together."

"But…But…I killed Percy!" she cried. "I-I just killed one of my _best friends, _Jason!"

Jason stared into her eyes and sternly continued his attempt to calm Thalia down. "Hey-hey, listen to me, okay? It was not your fault. It was Ordoa's fault. You can make it up to him by focusing and helping me to save him, alright? Can you do that for me? Can you do that for _him_?"

Thalia sniffed and wiped her eyes, then nodded. "Okay."

As Jason pulled away, Thalia gave out a half-hearted laugh and said, "Don't tell Percy I cried like a baby over him, okay? He'll think I've gone all soft, and I can't have that Seaweed Brain getting a big head around me."

"I promise I won't say anything," Jason smirked. Then he turned back to the problem at hand.

"Thalia, do you have any ambrosia?"

Reaching in her pockets and turning them inside out, Thalia sighed and said, "Nope."

Looking around, Jason spotted Nico, who had until this point been completely unconscious. Now, he was groaning and shifting over to his side, as if he was trying to find a more comfortable position to sleep in.

"Check Nico for ambrosia," Jason ordered. Thalia didn't hesitate to follow his instructions, which seemed a bit odd, considering her tough, 'I make the rules' personality.

"Nico, wake up!" Thalia urged the sleeping son of Hades, shaking him roughly by the shoulder.

Nico's eyes slowly cracked open, and when he saw who was shaking him awake, his eyes grew as wide as they could get and his fist launched upward to connect with Thalia's face.

"Ow!" Thalia yelled, grabbing her nose. She then punched Nico's shoulder in return. "What was that for?"

"Sorry," Nico grumbled, sitting up and rubbing his oncoming bruise from Thalia's hit. "I thought you were still Ordoa."

"Oh...Sorry Nico, it's…it's just me." Thalia immediately sobered up at the reminder of what had just happened to her.

Nico sighed and looked around, spotting Percy. "Oh my gods, what happened to him?"

Thalia looked like she'd break into tears again if she had to explain why Percy was dying, and Jason couldn't have that. Instead, he answered for her.

"Ordoa used Thalia to kill Percy. She probably thought you were dead as well from the lightning strike, and therefore ended the match with Percy's assumed death. Lucky for us, he's still alive, but not for much longer."

Jason paused to let that sink in. "Do you have any ambrosia with you?"

Nico reluctantly shook his head. "I…I don't." Turning to look at the balcony, Nico asked, "Do Hazel or Tyson?"

"What?" Jason asked; he had only half-heard Nico. He followed the demigod's gaze and saw Hazel and Tyson leaning over the balcony, roped and gagged, hoping that someone would bring them down to join everyone else soon.

"Shoot, I forgot they were up there!" Jason swore, then lifted his hand in order to control the air once again. Hazel and Tyson were raised upwards and then carried down to the arena floor.

"Nico, go untie them." The boy followed his orders and quickly freed the demigod and Cyclops.

As soon as Tyson could move again, he ran over to his brother. "Percy, you are not dying. You are my brother. We ride fish ponies together! We go save satyrs together! No dying today." Fishing in his pocket, the monster brought out a crumpled baggie of godly food- ambrosia.

"Oh thank Zeus he has some," Jason breathed. "Hurry, feed it to Percy."

Tyson did as asked, slipping the food into Percy's mouth and aiding him to swallow it.

Hazel, Tyson, Jason, Nico, and Thalia all sat and stared at their close friend as they waited in silence for any sign of his healing.

Slowly but surely, the blood covering the improvised bandage began to disappear, sinking back below the fabric. Percy's body seemed to lose all of its stiffness, and he sighed in relief in his sleep.

"He's okay! My brother is okay!" Tyson yelled, clapping his big hands together. All of a sudden, Percy broke into a rough coughing fit, and he seemed to be struggling to stop. Nico rushed over and helped him sit up, patting his back. This appeared to help, as Percy's coughs ceased to exist and he opened his bright green eyes.

"Percy!" Thalia cried, rushing forward and gripping him in a tight hug.

"Can't…breath," Percy gasped, and Thalia let go. _So much for her not appearing all soft,_ Jason thought with a smile.

"BROTHER!" Tyson boomed, and he gave Percy an even harder hug. Percy couldn't even talk this time; all he could do was smile in his signature, mischevious-looking way and hug his half-brother back.

Once Tyson let go and Percy could breath again, he exclaimed, "Tyson, you're okay!"

"Yes, I am okay! So are you! The air helped me down and Nico cut off my ropes."

Percy turned around and smiled at Nico, mouthing the word 'Thanks' as Tyson continued to relay the events that had just occurred.

"-and then I gave you ambrosia, and you are all better!"

"I guess I am, huh? You saved my life," Percy said gratefully, still smiling. "Feels pretty good to be alive again."

Hazel came over to stand by the group, then said, "I'm so glad you're okay." She gave him a hug that was fortunately not as tight as Thalia's and Tyson's. "Right back at you," Percy replied, hugging her back.

Jason couldn't help but smile broadly. Everything was going to be okay. Helping Percy to his feet, Jason unwrapped the bandages to see that the wound had completely healed over.

Someone cleared his or her throat, and both Jason and Percy turned to see Thalia standing awkwardly off to the side.

"I'm sorry, Percy," she said solemnly. "I tried to resist Ordoa, I really did, but she had complete control, and I couldn't stop her, and she- I- hurt you, and…"

"Thalia, it's okay," Percy laughed. His optimism seemed to lighten the mood. "I don't blame you. I never have, nor will I ever." With a smirk, Percy added, "I don't blame you for zapping me with lightning, or chasing me around the arena, or stabbing me, or-"

"Okay, okay, I get it," Thalia blushed. She turned to Nico next to apologize. "Sorry for, um, electrocuting you. And punching you after."

Nico subconsciously rubbed his shoulder and said, "It's okay. Not your fault. Well, the punching was, but not the electrocution. And, I guess I'm sorry for punching you when I woke up."

"Not your fault," Thalia said, quoting Nico. "It was under good intentions. Although I have to say, it hurt like-"

"Guys, I think our apologies are finished now, right?" Jason interrupted, eager to move on. "We need to get out of this prison." _And back to Piper and the others_, he thought. They must be worried sick to wake up and find three of their crew members missing.

"Where do we even start?" Hazel asked, looking around. "The only exit I see is the one that we came through- the door on the balcony."

"Then that's where we go," Percy determined. The others looked at him, confused and skeptical of his choice.

"You want us to go where the crazy woman who trapped us here in the first place went?" Nico asked doubtfully.

"Do you have another ideas?"

Percy was met with silence.

"My point exactly." Percy turned to Jason and asked, "Can you fly us all up there?"

"Yes, but only one at a time," Jason answered.

"That'll work. Okay, once we get up there, we're going to go through the door, then…"

As Percy informed the four demigods and single Cyclops of the plan, Jason couldn't help but feel…out of it. He was usually the one giving orders, not the one receiving them. It seemed to him that ever since Percy was healed, he'd taken over the role of leader. Even during their quest, there were moments when he'd become the commander.

Mind you, Percy was a great leader, but it made Jason feel unimportant. Like he wasn't needed. Jason had never really felt like that at Camp Jupiter; he and Reyna had run the place. Now, he felt as if at times he just faded into the background, and he wasn't comfortable with that.

"…and then we'll Iris message the others once we get outside. Is everybody clear on the plan?" Everyone nodded. "Alright then. Jason, could you start flying us all up?"

After everyone had taken the Jason Express up to the balcony- Tyson had been a hard trip, what with his size and everything- each demigod pulled out his or her weapon and stood at the ready.

"Time to go kick some goddess butt," Percy stated blatantly, then kicked open the door that led into unknown danger.

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**Ta da! Percy is alive, and everyone has a bone to pick with a certain goddess...**

**Sorry for the lack of action this time; it was more of a 'necessary in order to move on' chapter. I'll put lots of action into the next one ;) .**

**Thank You Time! Alright, here we go:**

**Thank you to Valou-Luna, percyjackson1808, Blue Torpedo, and cjsmile5 for the story favorites, thank you godsarereal for the author favorite, and thank you to cbarbs, BlackKarate, Blue Torpedo, 8EternallyMortal8, and Flo421 for the follows!**

**Reviewing the reviews...**

**ElementalEvolution: Thank you! Sorry this update took a bit longer, but it's finally here!**

**TheGoddessIsAlive: Don't worry, he's safe now :) .**

**Thanatosofdeath: Yay, cookies! Now Percy, Hazel, _and_ Tyson are all okay! The nymphs, however, we have not yet gotten to...you'll just have to wait and see.**

**8EternallyMortal8: Thank you so much! I try my best to make each chapter entertaining and exciting, and I really appreciate all the feedback.**

**Guthans: Dramatic scenes are the best, and luckily this one didn't turn into a tragedy! Again, sorry this update came a little late, but it's here now!**

**Flo421: Phew! No hunting people down today, huh? **

**As I say every time, I treasure each and every review, favorite, and follow, and all my readers mean a lot to me. So again, thank you all! Please continue to leave comments and advice, and hopefully I'll talk (or write, technically) to all of you soon!**

**-8DemigodRunner8**


	4. The Chariot Race

**Hi, I'm back! I am SO sorry this took forever to be posted; I've had to make my updates only on the weekends due to my busy schedule. Trust me, I'm as disappointed about that as you are :( . Nonetheless, I _will_ still be updating, so no worries.**

**Disclaimer: I don't own Percy Jackson and the Olympains/ Heroes of Olympus**

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Nico's POV

As Percy kicked down the door, Nico realized that he had been holding his breath in anticipation. He really had no idea of what to expect out there.

The five demigods and Cyclops charged through the doorway but immediately stopped once outside. No one really knew what they had expected to be on the other side, but judging from everyone's awed expressions, it wasn't what they ended up finding.

The group of half-bloods were now standing on a scond-floor balcony looking out at the inside of a tall, cylindrical building. It resembled the Leaning Tower of Piza in its structure, though the architecture on the outside of the famous landmark was now on the inside, like an inverse of the famous Tower.

Nico looked upwards and saw dozens of balconies, similar to the one they were standing on, ringing the building all the way up to the open top, where bright blue sky was visible. Each balcony was supported with tan and worn pillars, the same color as the walls and floors.

Stretched across the center of the tower were small threads from which…flags hung. Not just any flags, either. There were checkered flags used at a finish line, red flags that sometimes signaled the start of a race, yellow ones, Olympic ones, as well as countless others all connected to competitions in some way.

Nico had by now approached the edge of the walkway they were all standing on, and looking down he saw a chariot track lining the bottom, complete with an ornately decorated Roman chariot that appeared to be running the track on its own with no horses nor rider.

What deeply saddened Nico, however, were the nymphs. He saw maybe twenty of them all strolling about Ordoa's temple, all of them handcuffed and either carrying a platter of food or cleaning the tower in some way. She had enslaved so many...

Suddenly, the son of Hades heard a familiar voice from across the center of the building.

"I swear, Nike can be the _worst_ sister sometimes," Ordoa whined, stepping out of a door opposite from where the demigods stood and rambling on to one of her nymphs. "Can I not have one competition in which no one wins? No, apparently I can't. 'Victory is an important virtue in a game.' Ha! Virtue my-"

The goddess stopped when she saw her former prisoners in the midst of their escape.

"What…is this?" Ordoa asked incredulously, throwing her hands out in front of her and gesturing to her many escapees. _"What is this?" _Ordoa's eyes flashed orange in their tell tale sign of her rage rising to a dangerous level.

"Uh…we were looking for the bathroom?" Percy lamely answered, looking for an excuse.

Under her breath, Thalia added, "The dam bathroom."

Having heard her, Percy looked at his cousin as if he couldn't believe she'd just said that. She returned the look for only a second before they both started cracking up, despite their present situtation. Nico had no idea what was so funny.

"Are you laughing at ME?" Ordoa shrieked at Percy and Thalia.

"N-No, just a-an inside j-joke!" Thalia laughed, struggling to get her words out between her gasps of laughter.

Suddenly, Ordoa appeared right next to Nico on the edge of the group in a puff of red smoke. That shut Percy and Thalia right up.

"How did you get out of my arena?" she demanded.

"Well, you didn't 'capture' any of us, really. We could already walk wherever we wanted in the arena," Nico replied cockily. "You also didn't tie down the flying demigod, so…really its no surprise we got out."

Ordoa was turning beet red with anger and embarrassment. Here she was, an immortal goddess, getting stood up by a simple group of bratty demigods. She planned to have a talk with their parents the next time she visited Olympus. Someone needed to teach these children some respect.

"Nymphs!" Ordoa snapped suddenly. "Grab them." Quicker than anyone could react, the miscellaneous naiads and dryads mulling about the tower rushed forward and grabbed the arms of each demigod- and Cyclops.

A female dryad with hair the color of cherry wood lightly grabbed Nico's leather-clad arms.

"I'm sorry," she whispered softly in his ear. "If I disobey Ordoa, she'll have my head." She emphasized this by running a hand delicately under her neck in a slicing motion before returning it to its place on Nico's upper arm.

"It's okay," he whispered back. "I understand." Nico was thinking of the time he'd taken Percy to Hades last summer, only to have his best friend thrown in jail by his dad. Of course, Nico hadn't intended that last part to happen, but he could still relate to having to follow a boss's orders or face consequences.

"It seems that you are all unaware of my little _rule_," Ordoa began, gaze drifting from one demigod to the next. "This is not the first time I've… 'borrowed' people to fight in a competition for me. Each time, I always promise to let the winner go free, while the losers that _don't_ die have to stay with me for eternity." She said the last part with an evil grin of malice spreading across her fairly tanned face.

"Or," she added, "if I have a change of heart, they will be let go. Of course, that rarely ever happens, so I mostly go by the first option. See all my nymphs?" She waved her hands around the tower. "They are all the defeated opponents from my many battles, commited to serving me for the rest of their lives."

"Are we the first demigods you've used, then?" Hazel asked timidly, glancing around at the many nymphs holding them captive.

"Oh, no. There are a couple demigods already here as well. They just might be off running errands for me, or completing some other task."

Nico couldn't help but feel an unruly anger build up inside his chest. Ordoa didn't seem to care about her prisoners; they were like pets to her. In fact, if she did have a pet, she'd probably care more about it than the people she had enslaved from her forced competitions. The son of Hades didn't care if Ordoa was partly the goddess of rank and liked an hierarchy system; slavery is and always will be wrong.

"Hold up," Thalia interjected. "If the winners get to go, why haven't I been freed? I mean, I technically just won that battle, didn't I?"

Ordoa rolled her eyes at the Huntress. "Please. I fought that battle, really. You were simply my…armor, I guess you could say. _You_ did nothing. Therefore, there were no winners in that little skirmish."

"But-"

"Don't 'but' me, girl," Ordoa warned Thalia. "My rules are the only rules here."

"Then lets make some more," Jason offered, stepping to the front of the crowd and pulling his nymph along with him. "I have a deal for you: we all compete in a series of competitions, and the winner of each battle gets to be set free. If you win…then you can choose one of us to keep forever. One person is either freed or imprisoned with each battle. I propose there be…six competitions of various kinds, that way each of us will have a chance to go back to where we came from."

"That's-"

"I'm not finished," Jason cut off Ordoa, earning a small gasp from one of the nymphs at his sudden take over of power. "It's also enough chances for you to capture all of us as your slaves."

_He sure spent a lot of time thinking that one through,_ Nico thought with a hint of admiration. _I just wish he'd consulted us_ _before launching the offer._ What if Nico and the others didn't want to risk their chances of freedom by competing against Ordoa? Even so, Nico had to admit that it was a pretty good plan, and it at least gave them a 50/50 chance at escape. Besides, they couldn't back out now. Ordoa was already in deep thought about taking up the deal.

Nico stole a glance at his half-sister Hazel, and he saw her nervous expression plastered on her face. She turned and glanced up at Percy, as if looking for some sort of reassurence that everything would be okay. In her golden eyes, Nico recognized a look of reminiscence he'd often seen on ghosts faces as they were granted a tidbit of an old memory from their past. Percy seemed lost in reveries as well, and when he noticed Hazel he nodded as if to say "It'll be okay." Nico made a mental note to ask the two what that little exchange had been about.

Ordoa finally smirked at Jason, who'd kept a poker face the entire time, and stuck out her hand. "I accept your deal. What shall the first challenge be?"

Jason turned to look at his friends for ideas.

"Chariots!" Tyson exclaimed, pointing down at the track below that lined the floor of the tower.

"Wonderful," Ordoa responded. "Chariot racing will be the first challenge."

Jason shook her hand, and suddenly the world around them twisted in on itself, changing the scenery in a whirl of color to now show the track that Tyson had pointed to.

"What was that?" Percy asked, blinking his eyes harder than normal, like he had was trying to refocus his vision after getting dizzy.

"Simple teleportation trick," Ordoa shrugged, clapping her hands together like people do when they finish a job. Nico took in his surroundings; the track was a formidable size, made of dusty sand, and lined with chalk borders. The single white chariot that had been racing solo before now pulled to a stop before Ordoa. The goddess clapped once, and a brilliant, chocolate brown mare materialized in front of her, already attached to the chariot. Nico wondered if the horse had previously been invisible or had literally just formed out of the air.

"I trust you can summon your own steeds?" Ordoa asked offhand, assuming that they wouldn't be able to and would have to forfeit the challenge. That'd make them all the losers, and she could get a prize already in the first race.

Percy, Jason, and Hazel all exchanged a smirk before Percy and Hazel whistled loudly and Jason raised his hand to the sky above them. Thunder clouds blocked out the clear blue circle of sky at the top of the tower, and whinnying could be heard in the distance. Suddenly, a black, beige, and gray mass swooped down from the top. The bundle of neighs spread apart to reveal three familiar horses.

"Blackjack!" Percy exclaimed happily as his black Pegasus landed next to him, shaking his mane and neighing urgently at his master. "Yeah, I missed you too," Percy laughed, and with a small shove he added, "and stop calling me 'boss,' okay?"

Hazel looked like a little girl on Christmas, jumping up and down and eyes filled with pure joy. "Arion," she breathed as the beige stallion sprinted in a blur down the side of the tower and slowed in front of the daughter of Pluto. Arion whinnied at Hazel, and Percy turned wide-eyed to look at the daughter of Pluto.

"Your horse has a dirty, dirty mouth," he informed her before shaking his head and turning back to his own horse.

The last steed was one Nico had never seen before; a grey venti galloped through the air and hovered next to Jason, neighing as a tiny flash of lightening lit up inside his swirling winds of a body.

"Hey again," Jason smiled, petting his horse's stormy mane. "Glad you could make it." Then, turning to Ordoa, Jason asked, "I trust that you'll be supplying the chariots?"

The goddess still looked a bit stunned at the arrival of the demigod's stallions, and she subconsciously waved her hand and created three chariots- one for each horse.

"We will be riding in pairs, right?" Percy asked as he and Tyson strapped Blackjack into a silver chariot that had appeared. Jason and Thalia tied their venti to a golden chariot, and Hazel joined Nico in reining in Arion and attaching him to a bronze chariot.

That snapped Ordoa out of her stupor, bringing her to say, "If you ride in pairs, that means there will be two winners and I'll lose two of you in one challenge!"

"Fine," Percy sighed, refraining from sighing in annoyance of her catching on to their trick. "If you win this race, you'll get two demigods as prisoners, since we will be finishing and losing as teams. How's that?"

"Percy," Nico started, looking anxiously at his friend. "Are you sure that's the right thing to do?"

"Yes," the son of Poseidon said with a curt nod. Nico sighed tiredly; he knew he wouldn't be able to change the stubborn demigod's choice.

"I accept," Ordoa grinned. She lifted a hand into the air and waved over a nymph that had been sweeping over in the corner. The nymph dropped his broom immediately and sprinted to Ordoa's side. "Elk, you'll be my racing partner."

Elk agreed by saying, "It'd be my pleasure," though it was clear in his voice he found no pleasure in doing his assigned task.

The four pairs all lined up their horses and chariots onto the track, where a second nymph, this one another dryad, stood at the starting line with a red flag.

"3 laps total, first to cross the finish line wins their freedom," she said in a monotone voice, obviously bored and wishing she was somewhere else. "On your marks…"

Hazel and Nico stepped into their chariot, Hazel holding on to Arion's reins in eager anticipation of the race.

"Get set." The three other couples boarded their chariots and situated themselves into the right positions.

The dryad swung her flag downwards while shouting, "Go!"

The four chariots' reins whipped upwards with various cries of "Hyah!" and "Go!", and the race for freedom began.

Nico and Hazel immediately took the lead, Arion racing at the speed of sound and easily weaving in between the multiple chariots. Shouts of protests echoed from behind them, but the calls did nothing to wipe away the wide smile on Hazel's face.

"Are you sure this is safe?" Nico yelled over the sound of the chariot's spinning wheels and Arion's hooves burning against the ground.

"Well, no... but it's fun!" Hazel exclaimed back, whipping the reins in a signal for Arion to go even faster.

Suddenly, Arion's speed slowed down so drastically that it sent both demigods flying to the front of the chariot and the chariot flying into Arion. The horse tumbled to the ground in a tangle of ropes, people, and chariot.

"What the-"

A polished, shining white chariot gilded in gold sped by the toppled demigods, toting a nymph and a laughing goddess. "You two had already finished two laps in your super speed chariot, so I had to throw in a little speed bump to slow you down."

A large brick of rock that Nico was just now noticing had appeared in Arion's path, causing the stallion to stumble and get tangled in his reins.

"Oh, two can play at that game," Hazel scowled with a fierceness Nico had never heard in her before. From underneath the chariot that had toppled over onto the children of Hades, Hazel jerked her hand upward.

In front of Ordoa's chariot sprouted a giant limestone rock the size of a car, obviously Hazel's doing.

Ordoa screamed in surprise and swerved to the right in an attempt to avoid crashing. Her chariot tilted on one wheel, threatening to tip, but then it righted itself and she continued down the track. However, her detour gave Percy's team and Thalia's team time to pass her, both crossing the finish line and starting their second lap, closely followed by Ordoa.

As Nico and Hazel struggled to untangle themselves and Arion from their wreck, Ordoa began to pick up speed, now rolling in between the sons of Poseidon's chariot and the children of Zues's chariot.

"Now, Thalia!" Jason shouted as he took the reins from his sister, freeing up her hands. She pointed at the storm above, then down at Ordoa. Out of the sky came a bright white bolt bristling with electricity, which struck down onto the back of Ordoa's chariot. "That's for kidnapping us!" Thalia yelled with a whoop of defiance.

"Elk!" she screeched. "Put the fire out!" The poor nymph hurried to try and snuff out the flame that danced along the chariot's back edge, but he was struggling to do so. The couple's effort slowed their speed as their concentration shifted to the fire.

Percy and Tyson were now in the lead, barreling past the finish line and starting their third and final lap, followed by Thalia and Jason in second and the burning chariot in third.

"They've got it in the bag," Nico commented as he finally stood and helped Hazel up as well. Both first and second place were occupied by the demigods.

As Percy and Tyson neared the finish line and their grant of freedom, Ordoa formed a desperate plan in her head. Holding out her hand, a long spear materialized in her grasp, its tip as sharp as a needle. She hefted the weapon back, then propelled it forward with more force than anyone would've guessed she could.

The spear sailed through the air, whistling as it went, and was heading straight for Blackjack's head. Percy quickly noticed the oncoming missile and, placing one foot on the front edge of the chariot, prepared to block it. A few seconds before the spear would've hit the Pegasus, Percy leapt out into the air and knocked the spear away with Riptide.

The son of Poseidon rolled out and onto the ground just as Tyson pulled over the finish line, followed moments by Thalia and Jason's chariot and finally Ordoa, still trailing fire.

Nico and Hazel, now just having untangled Arion, ran over to meet up with the rest of their group. Ordoa left Elk to deal with the flaming chariot and instead fumed over to where Tyson stood, presently unhitching Blackjack from the chariot.

"Under the terms of our agreement, I must set you free. Goodbye, Cyclops."

Ordoa touched her hand to Tyson's head, causing him to disappear.

"Where'd he go?" Percy immediately asked Ordoa when he'd caught up to the group, covered in sand.

"He's back in Camp Half-Blood, where he belongs," she grumbled. The goddess did a quick head count before declaring, "The next challenge-"

"Wait, wait, hold on," Percy intruppted, holding his hands up in front of him. "What about me? My team won the race. Don't I get sent home too? Annabeth needs my help in Tartarus!"

Ordoa couldn't help but smirk at Percy as she asked, "Did you ever cross the finish line?" Realization poured over Percy as he noticed that he'd joined the group by walking around the track from where he'd tumbled off.

"No."

"Therefore, you never finished the race and technically didn't win alongside Tyson. He was the single person sent home for this challenge, and I plan to let him be the only one ever sent home."

* * *

**And that's the end of Chapter 4. I hope you all enjoyed it!**

**Can anyone guess what Hazel and Percy had been thinking about during the proposing of the deal? Hint: It has to do with 50/50 chance gambles...**

**And now it's thank you time!**

**Thank you to Guthans, Blacksun12, DaughterofPoseidon12470, percylover123456789, queenyuri, and Angelwings178 for the story favorites, thank you to Pixel kitten, DaughterofPoseidon12470, The Awesome God Apollo, and frozenbranches for the story follows!**

**Pixel kitten: Thank you! It'll be a few more chapters before the end, so I guess you'll have to wait and see ;) .**

**Guthans: Thank you for the advice, and I'm glad I could make you laugh! As you know now, Ordoa can easily send people back to where they came from, so that solves the problem of getting home. However, what if not everybody can win a challenge? Then they'll definitely be in a predicament, won't they? I guess only time will tell...**

**Jamieandtj: Thanks! I appreciate the feedback very much.**

**DaughterofPoseidon12470: Thank you!**

**8EternallyMortal8: Percy is still trying to rejoin his girlfriend, but at least now there's a discovered way, right? If only he had won that challenge...oh well ;) .**

**Again, thank you for your patience in waiting for this chapter to come out! As I said earlier, there will be weekly updates on the weekends, so stay tuned and don't forget to read, review, favorite, and/or follow!**

**-8DemigodRunner8**


	5. The Archery Contest

**Hi everyone! I am so genuinely sorry for the giant delay in the posting of a chapter on this story. I was busy these last two weeks and just never got around to writing. Sadly, this individual chapter is short, but no worries! I am planning to post TWO more chapters this weekend! Hopefully I can keep this promise, and I have a good feeling that I'll be able to. Until then, I decided to post this shorter chapter to tide you over until then.**

**Disclaimer: I do not own Percy Jackson and the Olympians/ Heroes of Olympus**

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Percy's POV

A moment of stunned silence followed Ordoa's proclamation, first broken by Percy.

"What do you mean I 'technically didn't win?'" Percy asked while using his fingers as quotation marks. He was clearly outraged by the goddess' logic. "We work in teams! Tyson and I were a _team,_ and since we won as a _team_, I am one of the victors of this challenge!"

Ordoa had been examining her very plain nails while Percy had frustratedly tried to negotiate with her; turning to look at the demigod, she blatantly stated, "My temple, my rules. There's a reason the end of a race is called a 'finish,' boy. You-" She jabbed a finger on Percy's chest as she spoke, "-didn't finish."

This brought on an onslaught of shouts and arguments from the other four demigods, all trying to get Percy rightly freed. Ordoa made it obvious that she didn't care as completely ignored them all and sauntered over to the side of the arena, where a large golden pole had been placed. From each side at the top of the pole stuck out a short rod, dangling score cards from it. The goddess flipped over one of the black number cards to reveal a "1." The other side, complete with red numbers, remained at "0." _We must be the black_, Percy thought.

"At one to none, we start the next challenge," she declared. Calling forth a nymph, she waited with a smirk as the half-bloods stormed over to where she was standing. They all knew that they wouldn't be able to talk any sense into the goddess, so they decided they'd just have to go along with keeping Percy there.

In all honesty, Percy wasn't completely devastated about Ordoa's decision. Of course he wanted to return to Tartarus to help Annabeth, but at least now he could keep an eye on his many friends here and hopefully prevent Ordoa from gaining any of them as her slaves.

Finally, a short male nymph with shaggy blonde hair scrambled up to Ordoa, dragging an incredibly long and worn-looking scroll behind him, unknowingly unraveling it as he ran.

Panting as he came to a halt, Ordoa set her hand on his back. "Reed, please inform my fellow competitors of the many challenges we have recorded and ready on the scroll." Ordoa seemed to perk up with pride at the mention of her list. "Being the goddess of competition, I make it my business to know every single challenge, battle, race, contest, and game out there. Today, you may pick any one of these challenges to compete in for your freedom." She paused for a second before continuing. "Since one of your own chose the last tournament, it is my turn. Reed, please read the list for me."

And so the nymph began, naming many sorts of matches ranging from shuffleboard to javelin throws. "Relay, trivia, disk toss, long jump, soccer, ping pong, vaults, hurdles, swimming, archery-"

"I choose archery," Ordoa declared, interuppting the nymph, and no sooner had the words left her mouth did the ground begin to change, morphing itself into a grassy field. Across the fresh green appeared six targets, each awaiting arrows to pierce their brightly painted canvases.

Percy heard Thalia stifle a snicker. Turning to look at her, he whispered, "What's so funny?"

"She chose _archery_, Seaweed Brain. I'm an archer. This'll be a piece of cake."

Percy couldn't help but smile; they had this one in the bag. "Win for us, Pinecone Face."

"Will do, Fish Head."

"Branch Brains."

"Dumb Gills."

"Pretty Pinecone Princess."

"Stupid-"

"Guys!" Hazel interrupted under her breath. Ordoa had just waved her hand and made multiple pairs of bows and arrows appear, and everyone had grabbed a set except for the bickering cousins. Hazel had been trying not to laugh at them as she'd intervened. The daughter of Pluto had never really since Percy argue with someone like that, and the way he and Thalia fought was so childish and sibling-like that she momentarily forgot that they were two extremely powerful demigod children of the Big Three.

Blushing, Percy approached his set of archery equipment and left to find a target, Thalia close behind.

"Whoever shoots three arrows in the bullseye first is the champion!" Ordoa announced, then knotched an arrow on her bow. "Ready, set…begin!"

Percy fumbled with his bow and arrow a bit before finally getting them into the right position. He'd never been good at archery and knew there was no way he'd be winning this challenge. He just hoped that either Thalia, Nico, Hazel, or Jason were better than Ordoa and would win this for him.

_Thunk._ Percy looked up at Thalia's target, the one immediately to his left. A silver arrow already sprouted from the dead center of the target. _Thunk. Thunk._ Thalia had released two more arrows; that made for three shots in the dead center of her target. Thalia noticed Percy's awed gaze and bowed sarcastically.

"Thank you, thank you, I'll be here all night! Actually, now that I think about it, I won't be here because I'll be sent back home as the _winner_!" Thalia sang as she skipped by Percy, who hadn't even fired one arrow yet.

Percy rolled his eyes at his cousin's bragging and turned back to his own target. He let his first arrow fly and watched it land on the ground in front of the target.

_Thunk. _On his right, Hazel landed her first one on the target's edge. Farther down the line, Jason had one arrow in the middle and two on the edges, Nico with two on the ground and one near the bullseye, and Ordoa with two perched right in the middle of the target.

Percy fired his last two arrows, his final score adding up to zero as none of his arrows even touched the target. On wild arrow had shot past the target and almost impaled a nymph walking by. Percy had mouthed the word "Sorry" to her, but she simply sighed in exasperation as if that sort of thing happened every day and continued on doing her chores.

Everyone's attention turned to Ordoa as she placed the final arrow on her bow. Without even realizing it, Percy had begun to hold his breath; if she made a bullseye, she and Thalia would have to have a tiebreaker, and a 50-50 chance during that is a really risky move when people's freedom is on the line.

Ordoa's fingers left the feathered back of the arrow, and it soared in a perfectly straight line to land…an inch off of the center.

"_NO!"_ Ordoa screamed, dropping to her knees in frustration and chucking her bow across the room. Percy would not have been surprised if she started blowing fire like a dragon, so angry was she.

"Oh yeah! The undefeated huntress strikes again!" Thalia chanted, throwing her fist up into the air in victory. She stalked straight up to Ordoa and immediately demanded, "Send me home. Now. That was the deal, and I won fair and square. No loopholes in this match, lady."

Perhaps Thalia shouldn't have been so brunt with Ordoa, but the goddess, with a sudden mask of calm over a fit of rage, waved her hand over Thalia's head and the daughter of Zeus disappeared from the room. Nico ran over to the shining pole with the scores and flipped a second card on our side, making the score 2-0.

"That's another point for us," Nico observed with a small smile. "And it's our turn to pick the next competition."

* * *

**And there you have it! Tyson and Thalia have both been sent home, leaving Percy, Hazel, Jason, and Nico to still win their way out. Again, I apologize for the shortness of this chapter and the lack of action, but by Sunday I should have two more posted, and those will definitely be more exciting!**

**And now...thank-you time!**

**Thank you to godsarereal, digimonfanatic4ever, and Respice Adspice Prospice for the story favorites, and thank you to Cribellate, godsarereal, The Librarian's Daughter, HungerGamesgirl911, Lunknownl, and Respice Adspice Prospice for the story follows!**

**Lioness Deity: I guess you'll have to wait and see what fate will bestow upon Ordoa... there's no telling what those three old ladies knitting by the side of the road will do. Sorry for the delay in the update, but expect more soon!**

**Guthans: Thank you for the suggestion; it has actually helped inspire me on how I plan to end this story! It will be a bit different than what you've described, but I will still give you credit for your help. Again, thank you! **

**8EternallyMortal8: Yes, time is passing in the outside world at the moment, so that's why Percy is desperate to get back to Tartarus to help Annabeth :( She's a tough demigod, though, and should make it until Percy gets back.**

**By the way, ****if you're reading my other story, "Each Other's Lifelines," this has no affect on it. They are independent storylines. **

**Read, Review, Follow, and/or Favorite! See you soon!**

**-8DemigodRunner8**


	6. Relays and Javelins

**I'm back! **

**Disclaimer: I do not own Percy Jackson and the Olympians/Heroes of Olympus**

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Nico's POV

Nico was given the honor of choosing the next contest, and remembering a certain competition from the scroll, he said, "I say that we do a relay race next. All the demigods will be on one side, and you will be on the other," Nico gestured to Ordoa.

Ordoa smirked and simply responded with, "As you wish." Closing her eyes, the goddess began to glow. Amazingly, her image began to vibrate and she transformed herself into four separate Ordoas.

"I will be my own team," they all spoke in unison. All four Ordoas waved their hands, and the grass melted away into a track once again, this one void of any chariots or horses. A checkered finish line painted itself right where everyone was currently standing.

Even spaced along the track, white lines made themselves visible. There were three sets of two.

"One team member must place themselves on each white line. The first racers shall start at the beginning and pass a golden rod to the next of his or her team members, who'll then run and give it to the next, and so on," Ordoa explained in four different voices.

She stood off the side as the demigods huddled around each other. "Who wants to start as our first racer?" Percy asked them. Nico couldn't help but smirk a little as he reminisced about Percy leading the demigod army against Kronos last summer. He was a natural leader, and taking charge was just an instinctive move for him. And no one ever questioned his leadership.

Nico really appreciated having Percy along. Admittedly, when he was younger and Bianca and Percy had left him to go on the quest, Nico had had mixed feelings about the son of Poseidon. At first, when Percy had approached the son of Hades, he thought to himself,_ I've never seen him around here before. _Then the Manticore attacked, and Nico felt like he was watching a live action Mythomagic battle. After that, he snuck off with the questers…He had let Bianca die, and that had been enough for Percy to become Enemy #1 in Nico's mind.

Nico had gone off and separated himself from everyone he knew. He dwelt in the Underworld with only ghosts and shades for company. That's when Percy came to save him yet again from befriending Minos and becoming his puny pawn, and Nico returned the favor by bringing him to the Styx. Once they'd arrived, Hades had thrown Percy in jail (that had not been part of Nico's plan), and Nico had gone and freed him. Overall, they had called it even and were now close friends- er, cousins.

"I can start it off," Jason volunteered, followed by Hazel vouching for second. Before anyone could call third, Nico interjected, "I'll be last."

His three companions looked at him curiously. Percy inquired, "You sure you want to finish off the race? We'll be depending on you to beat Ordoa if we fall behind."

"Don't worry," Nico reassured them, crossing his arms over his chest. "I've got a plan."

Trusting Nico's decision, Percy continued on the conversation by concluding, "I guess I'll be third." Turning to Ordoa, he said, "We're ready when you are."

"Let us take our places!" Ordoa announced, and everyone but the first Ordoa and Jason left to find their assigned spots. Nico took his time in reaching the final white strip where he'd wait for Percy to bring him the rod. Next to him stood an Ordoa copy, positioned in a runner's stance, waiting for her turn to sprint. She spoke simultaneously with her three counterparts, but her gaze did not shift from the road in front of her, her hand never leaving its outstretched position behind her.

"On your marks…get set…GO!"

Jason and Ordoa #1 were off, racing as fast and as hard as they could. Jason was indeed a very quick demigod, running full-out towards Hazel. He and Ordoa were stride for stride, neither gaining on the other.

Nico had never seen Jason practice running at Camp Jupiter- he'd only been their "Ambassador of Pluto" since Percy's disappearance- but he'd watched other legionnares run miles on a track they had at Camp. They were fast, the Romans were, but they were used to matching others' speeds so they could run in packs during a battle. That probably explained why Jason was able to match Ordoa's pace so easily and accurately.

Equality wouldn't win this race, though; the demigods were going to need an advantage, and that's why Nico took last place. He had tricks up his sleeve he hoped the goddess either didn't know about or had forgotten about.

Glinting off the sun's reflection, Nico watched as the relay rod was passed from Jason's hand to Hazel's, sending her off swiftly to continue the race. Jason stood, panting slightly, at Hazel's spot. Nico's sister was fast, but she had had less time to learn the ability to match strides, and she fell slightly behind. Ordoa #2 took the lead, and she passed her golden rod to Ordoa #3 seconds before Hazel did the same to Percy.

That's when the game changed. Percy took off like a bullet, sprinting as hard as he could around the track. While Jason had practiced running into battle and such, Percy had more experience running for his life. One could've thought that an invisible monster was chasing Percy, so determindly was he running.

He approached Nico so fast that the son of Hades had a single second of preparation before Percy was already handing him the rod.

Nico started quickly, but it wasn't long before Ordoa #4 took away the lead Percy had provided. Glancing at Hazel and Jason, Nico saw the worried expressions they were wearing. They thought that Ordoa was going to win.

Then Nico looked over his shoulder at Percy. The son of Poseidon seemed to be telepathically trying to urge him on, using his mind to make him go faster. There was no worry in his face, just curiousity. He trusted Nico to finish first; he trusted Nico that his plan would not fail. And indeed it wouldn't.

As they ran by a patch of shade, Nico hurled himself off the track and into the shadows, and there he disappeared into the air. He was going to shadow travel to the finish line. The darkness and icey cold wrapped around his body as he was transported down the track, and it wasn't long before he was spit back out two feet from the checkered line. Nico hurtled across moments before Ordoa sprinted over the line, and cheers went up from his fellow demigods.

3-0. They were beating a _goddess_ three to nothing.

Nico felt a hand on his back, and he turned around to see Percy Jackson smiling at him with pure joy and pride. "I knew you could do it," he grinned. "And since you'll be heading home, I've got a favor to ask of you…" Percy whispered what he needed in Nico's ear, and the son of Hades nodded afterwards. "Will do. See you soon, I guess," he smiled sheepishly; he felt bad for leaving his friends here with a crazed goddess, but he knew that with Percy's plan that it wouldn't be for too long.

"CHEATER!" Ordoa screeched, stomping over to Nico in her golden sandals. She had morphed back into a single version of herself, and she jabbed her golden rod at Nico. "You. Cheated! You used shadow travel to finish the race!"

Hazel, who had just walked up to join the others from across the track alongside Jason, said, "Excuse me, but did you ever specify that no shadow travel or alternate form of transportation was not allowed?" Nico looked at her in surprise; he felt like his own personal lawyer had just walked onto the scene.

"I- Uh- Well…No," Ordoa scowled.

"Then I fail to see how Nico has 'cheated.'"

Ordoa stood there, fuming, staring down Hazel for a whole minute before relinquishing the argument. "Fine. But from now on, no extra powers or anything like that."

"Done," Percy agreed, shaking her hand. Jason turned to glare pointedly at the goddess. "The rule applies to you too, Ordoa."

"I _know_ that, boy," she growled, then with a wave of her hand sent Nico away.

Jason called on the wind to flip the score card to read "3-0."

"Shall we continue the games?" he asked. "It's your turn to pick the challenge."

Ordoa straightened up and thought for a bit before declaring, "I choose…"

* * *

Jason's POV

"…javelin throwing." Jason was a bit taken aback by Ordoa's choice. Javelin throwing? What kind of competition was that?

Ordoa then changed the track back into a field, magically marking it with white lines that stretched across it in intervals.

"Each line represents 10 feet," Ordoa explained, sauntering over to the end of the field. Stuck into the ground beside her were four silver javelins. "Come take your pick."

Jason, Percy, and Hazel all followed Ordoa's lead and placed themselves at the end of the field, all now with a javelin in hand.

"I shall start," Ordoa commanded, and she hefted the long, pointed javelin up onto her shoulder. Twisting her torso with the throw, she launched the silver spear high into the air, cutting through the open space in an arch that landed an even 30 feet away. Smirking with her achievement, Ordoa brushed her hands together and stepped back. "I'd like to see you demigods beat_ that_ score."

_30 feet?_ Jason thought in amazement. _How in the world are we supposed to throw something that far, or even farther in order to win?_

Percy was the next to throw. He brought back his arm and chucked the javelin forward. His did not arch but instead shot forward in a straight line. Obviously, it wouldn't have the power to keep going for too long like that, so his javelin landed at about 11 feet. Still impressive, but nowhere near close enough to win the challenge. Jason could see the frustration build up in Percy's sea-green eyes, but oddly enough, it was not frustration with his throw so much as frustration that he had failed in keeping everyone safe from a loss.

When he had been praetor back in New Rome, Jason had become very good at reading people. He had learned to notice what body signals people gave off when Reyna's dogs had detected a liar. He'd watched how people had acted around him; from them he learned whether he was making the right decisions as praetor or not.

Now that knowledge was paying off. He could tell that Frank didn't like Leo and that Hazel was attracted and yet repelled by the son of Hepheastus for reasons unknown to Jason. He knew that Nico and Hazel had some secret hidden between them, and he could see that Percy would do anything to save his friends. By anything, he meant anything. Jason had already guessed that the son of Neptune's- or Poseidon, depending on what camp your from- fatal flaw was "Undying loyalty." As a Roman, the son of Jupiter knew when ties to people needed to be cut to save the majority, and he also knew that not cutting those ties could be a very dangerous thing…

Jason had gotten so lost in his thoughts that he hadn't even noticed Hazel throwing her javelin. It had landed at the 8 feet mark. That was a pretty decent throw; he didn't know the small daughter of Pluto had it in her. When he'd first seen Hazel, he hadn't thought much of her. Now, after seeing how maturely she handled everything on the quest, he knew that she deserved to be one of the Seven.

"Jason, you're up," Percy reminded him. Yanking the gleaming javelin out of the ground, Jason prepared to throw. A split second before he hurtled the spear forward, an idea formed in his mind. It was an ingenious, full-proof idea, but…it would be considered cheating.

Jason had never cheated in his entire life. Ever. Not in school, not in battle, not ever. And yet…if he didn't cheat now, one of his friends or even himself would be forever trapped in the Temple of Ordoa.

Taking a deep breath, Jason threw the javelin. The weapon arched up into the air, and that was when Jason cheated for the first time in his entire life. Calling on the winds, the javelin was carried through the air, sailing in a slight slant toward the field. Jason aimed its arrival so that it landed at 36 feet.

"We won!" Hazel shouted in excitement. Jason let out a breath he didn't know he'd been holding in a great sigh of relief. "Thank the gods," he mumbled. He'd used his wind powers, yes, but they'd won and saved themselves from becoming prisoners.

"Impossible," he heard Ordoa murmur, staring furiously at his javelin. "That's impossible. No demigods can throw that far- only a goddess or god could." Wheeling on Jason, Ordoa pushed herself right up in his face.

"You are a cheater. That throw was impossible," she accused him.

Staring defiantly at Ordoa with narrowed eyes, Jason replied solemnly with, "I don't know _what_ you're talking about."

The two stayed like, looking into each other's eyes as if searching for something to help their case. Not only could Jason read others, but he knew how to prevent other's from reading him. He mentally blocked off his thoughts and hid all emotion from his electrically blue eyes.

Percy had started to sweat a bit at the possibility of Ordoa's discovering Jason's cheating- Percy had figured it out the moment the javelin's arch became very wide and spread out in order to increase its distance. ADHD made you latch on to little details like that. Walking up to the couple, he placed himself in between them and said, "Okay, let's all agree that there was no cheating and Jason won fair and square. C'mon Ordoa, you've still got Hazel and I to capture; you can let one more go."

He could almost see the wheels turning in Ordoa's whacked-up head. "Fine, I will let you go. However, if I ever come by you again…"

"Oh, don't worry," Jason replied. "I will try to never have that happen as long as I live." Then, Jason was sent back to where he came from.

* * *

**And that is the end of Chapter 6. I have no idea how far an average human can throw a javelin, so please excuse my numbers if they are too exaggerated from reality.**

**Thank you time!**

**A big thank you to Fantasy's Phoenix for the favorite and pilvenpiirtaja, DisneyMagic21 (love your username, by the way), and LeafANBU24601 for the follows!**

**Fantasy's Phoenix: Thanks! And I guess you'll have to wait and see if the demigods ever get rescued...**

**Guthans: Thank you!**

**See you soon! Actually, in about...10 minutes when I post my second chapter for the week!**

**-8DemigodRunner8**


	7. Roman Jeopardy

**Well, what do you know? I'm back already!**

**Disclaimer: I don't own Percy Jackson, Heroes of Olympus, or Jeopardy**

* * *

Hazel's POV

Hazel was getting nervous. There were now only two demigods against one goddess; their chances of victory were narrowing rapidly.

However, if there was one person she could've chosen to be last with, it would be Percy. He always made her feel safe, even in the toughest situations.

"I believe it's our turn to pick the competition now," Percy reminded Ordoa. Then, turning to Hazel, asked, "What do you want to do?"

Hazel thought for a minute. Everything they'd done up to now had been a physical challenge…so why not do something mental?

"Why don't we have a trivia competition?" Hazel suggested. Using both her hands, Ordoa morphed their entire surroundings into a familiar looking game show. The ground was now made up of blue and purple tiles, and the walls were grey and light with blue lights. An internal wall jutted out into the middle of the room, covered in TV screens. The weird part, however, was the wall of black where the audience would usually be. In truth, it wasn't even a wall. It was a long expanse of nothing, just darkness.

"Welcome to Roman Jeopardy!" a loud voice announced, and from behind the TV screen wall walked a man with brilliant white hair and a face that had had one too many plastic surgeries.

"I am Aeolus, the keeper of the winds and your host tonight!" Spreading his arms wide, Aeolus accepted the applause that only he heard. If anything, Hazel might've heard crickets from the black expanse lining the side of the stage they were presently standing on.

"And now…let's meet our contestants!" At his words, three podiums emerged from the shiny tile floor and placed themselves in front of Ordoa, Percy, and Hazel. Each podium had its specific person's name on the front.

"This was unexpected," Percy whispered to Hazel, looking around the Jeopardy set curiously.

"When I asked for trivia, I was planning on a simple Q&A. Not a…not a game show," Hazel replied in wonder at her new surroundings.

She didn't get a response from the son of Poseidon, and that's when she noticed that he'd slipped into a state of extreme concentration, tapping his fingers on the podium and staring off into space. She'd seen that expression on Annabeth before, but rarely on Percy. _What's he thinking so hard about?_ Hazel thought.

"Remember," Aeolus continued into a microphone that was hooked around his ear, "the winner of this competition decides on these lovely two demigods fate!" The god stood smiling at the darkness for a minute before furthering his explanation. "If Miss Ordoa wins, she gets to keep the demigods! If Percy or Hazel win, they will be set free-"

"Excuse me," Percy suddenly called out, pressing his buzzer repeatedly.

Aeolus faltered for a second, not used to being interrupted, before asking, "Uh, yes?"

"I'd like to make a, well, a few adjustments to the deal," he announced. Both Hazel and Ordoa looked at him, expressions of bewilderment showing on their faces.

"Percy! What're you doing?" Hazel whispered sharply to him.

"Don't worry," he murmured back. "I've got this." Clearing his throat, Percy raised his voice again so that he could be heard by Aeolus. "You see, let's say I win this challenge. I get sent home, and Hazel is left here. How will I know that Ordoa here follows up with her promise? With just one demigod left, she may just decide to keep her. No one else would be there to protest or aid in her escape." He paused to let it all sink in. "How about for this next challenge, we go all or nothing? If we win, we're both set free. If we lose, both of us belong to Ordoa."

Hazel was incredulous. Percy, one of her best friends and fellow quester, just bet her freedom on a trivia game. True, that's what they'd been doing all day, but now the stakes were even higher. _What was he thinking?_

"I like the sound of that!" Aeolus responded in that overly emotional host voice he could so well execute. He then sauntered over to Ordoa's podium, leaning one sky-printed suit arm on her stand. "What do you say, Ordoa? Are you ready to raise the stakes?"

She smirked and glanced over at her two competitors, then answered with, "Of course. I love a good _challenge._" On the last word, her eyes flashed that startling orange color they tended to glow with before returning back to normal.

"Then let the game begin!" Aeolus declared, walking over to the wall covered in TV screens.

"Percy, are you sure that was the right move?" Hazel questioned him, concern and doubt filling her golden eyes.

Her friend smiled back at her with a grin that didn't reach his eyes. "We'll be fine. Just try your hardest, and no matter what we'll get out of here. I promise." Hazel appreciated his encouraging words, but she could see in his sea-green eyes that he himself was doubtful of their chances. Sighing, Hazel turned to face forward and look at Aeolus.

"We have four categories today, extending from 100-500 points each. Our first category is: Gods and Goddesses!" The wind master pointed at the screen at the top of the first column; the category name flashed into existence on the blue background, and numbers 100, 200, 300, 400, and 500 all assigned themselves a screen below it.

"Second category: Famous Heroes!" The same thing happened with the second column.

"Third: Multitudes of Monsters!"

"And lastly, one that seems most fitting to our contestants today: Romans vs. Greeks!"

Aeolus clapped along to the sound of silence, still playing up the charade that there was an audience. _Maybe there is an audience in that black abyss,_ Hazel wondered. _Or __the sound he's hearing is coming through his ear piece._ Either way, Hazel neither saw nor heard anything.

"Out of respect for the Olympian here today, Ordoa shall go first."

The goddess' bright eyes scoured the screens, thinking about which to pick. "Let's start with…Gods and Goddesses for 200." The box marked "200" flashed again to reveal the question, which Aeolus read aloud.

"The goddess of flowers and springtime is _."

"Persephone!" Percy yelled, raising his hand high in the air. Simultaneously, Ordoa hit her buzzer.

"Yes, Ordoa?"

"Prosperina," she answered, using the Roman name of the goddess.

"That is correct! 200 points to Ordoa."

"What?" Percy exclaimed, dropping his hand. "I said it first!"

"I'm sorry, but the rules of the game are that you must buzz in to answer," Aeolus informed him. Rolling his eyes, Percy rested his chin in his hand, propping himself up on the podium.

"It's okay," Hazel consuled him. "We'll get the next one."

He gave her a half-smile but didn't turn his head to look at her.

"Ordoa, your pick again."

She chose Gods and Goddesses for 400. "Jupiter's siblings are _."

Everyone buzzed in, but Ordoa was the quickest. "Juno, Hestia, Ceres, Neptune, and Pluto."

"You are correct!" Ordoa's score bumped up to 600, leaving Hazel and Percy with 0 each.

Ordoa continually won the Gods and Goddesses column until there were none left; next, she picked Heroes for 300.

"Who judged the competition between Minerva, Venus, and Juno for Eris' apple, labeled 'For The Fairest?'"

_Buzz. Buzz. _Hazel and Ordoa both buzzed in, leaving Percy still trying to figure it out.

"Hazel, you rang in first!" When Aeolus said her name, the daughter of Pluto was indeed caught a bit off-guard. All night all she'd been hearing was "Ordoa, Ordoa, Ordoa!" Finally, it was now her turn.

"Uh…Paris?" she answered.

"Correct!" Hazel's scoreboard changed to 300.

"Nice job," Percy congratulated her. "Keep it up."

"Hazel, would you please pick our next question?" She scanned the wall, searching for one she knew she could get. However, if she went with an easy one, she'd get very few points and also risk Ordoa knowing the answer. If she chose a hard one, she herself might not know it.

"I'll take Romans vs. Greeks for 400, please."

The screen flashed, and Aeolus read, "Romans often use eagles or travel on foot to deliver messages; what do the Greeks use as their quick form of communication?"

Percy started slamming his buzzer as fast as he could, a wild look in his eyes.

"Percy?" Aeolus acknowledged, nodding at the demigod as a signal to answer.

"Iris message! We use Iris messaging!" he exclaimed rapidly.

"You are correct, Mr. Jackson!"

"Yes!" Percy sighed, his score changing to 400. It was now 300 for Hazel, 400 for Percy, and 1500 for Ordoa. They still had a long way to go.

"I pick Monsters for 500," Percy told Aeolus, triggering the question to pop up.

"When Psyche had been destined to marry a 'monster,' who did she mistake to be a beast living with her?"

Ordoa buzzed, followed by Hazel, but not Percy. He was currently biting his lower lip in thought again.

"Who was it, Ordoa?" Aeolus asked.

"Cupid," she replied, seemingly a bit bored.

"Right you are, Ordoa!" The game picked up pace with Ordoa choosing every single question and winning every single question. Hazel and Percy were too slow to beat her lightning fast reflexes, and even if they could react fast enough, half the time they didn't even know the answers.

"Do you think she rigged it?" Percy leaned over and asked her. "There's no way she knows all this stuff."

"Sadly, I think she just happens to know all the answers," Hazel sighed. "You do know that she was alive for all these events?"

"Oh, right," Percy replied as Ordoa gained 500 more points.

"And that's game!" Aeolus suddenly exclaimed, snapping both Hazel and Percy out of their conversation. "Ordoa is the winner!" Confetti spilled out of the ceiling, but even as it rained down in a rainbow of colors they could see the giant, evil grin on Ordoa's face.

"She _won?_" Hazel coughed. "No. No, no, no…This can't be happening!" She looked at Percy, completely dumbfounded. She had hoped to find some sort of reassurance from him, but he looked pale with disbelief and fear. The Jeopardy scene melted away, revealing the grassy stadium floor of Ordoa's Temple once again, this time with the sun setting above and washing everything in a purple and orange light. Aeolus was nowhere to be seen.

"I'm _so_ glad you made that extra change in our deal, Percy," Ordoa smiled with malice. "It made my job a lot easier."

Hazel fumbled for Percy's hand, anxiety seizing her body and threatening to make her pass out.

This could _not_ be happening. It just couldn't! She was…She was stuck here for the rest of her life? As a slave to Ordoa, the Queen of Jerks? No. She'd rather die again then serve this horrid goddess. Percy squeezed her hand, possibly to reassure her or maybe to reassure himself, though there was nothing to be reassured of. Hazel knew their fate. She knew that she now was a prisoner of Ordoa. She had made a risky deal and had lost.

Ordoa snapped her fingers, and five nymphs stepped out into the light. Each nymph grabbed an arm of the demigods so that now they were unable to run away. The last nymph held…he held a rod with a heated red tip in the shape of a laurel and chains. _It was a branding rod_. Oh gods. Oh gods, oh gods. Oh gods oh gods oh gods oh gods oh gods oh gods-

"Mark them," Ordoa ordered the nymph, and reluctantly the dryad approached Percy first. The nymph who held his right arm thrust it out forward, revealing his Roman tattoos of one line and a trident.

"It looks like you've done this before," Ordoa remarked. "This should be a snap then…"

The nymph took one more step closer, then all chaos broke loose. Percy launched his leg behind him, kicking one of the nymphs in the groin. The second he punched square in the face with his free hand. Hazel followed his lead and jerked her arms forward, breaking the weak nymphs' grip on her. She whipped around and tripped them, kicking them behind the knees to make them collapse.

"C'mon!" she yelled to Percy, and together they sprinted off.

"Come back here!" Ordoa screeched, but the half-bloods tuned out her angry shouts and sprinted even harder.

"Where…are we going?" Percy panted between his breaths.

"Anywhere!" Hazel panted back. She noticed a staircase off to the side that led up to the first ring of balconies, and she ran straight for it. Glancing behind her, Hazel saw that Ordoa was steadily gaining on them. It would be impossible to outrun her for very long. That's when an idea formed in Hazel's head.

She remembered something from school when she had studied mythology. There had been a story about a maiden named Atalanta. She was prophecied to die when she was married, so she vowed to be single forever. Unfortunately for her, she was a pretty woman with many suitors. She had set up a race, and whoever beat her in it would win her hand in marriage. No one could complete this challenge, until one day a guy named Hippomenes tried. He'd asked Venus for help, and the goddess of love had supplied him with three golden apples. Hippomenes had used them to distract Atalanta during the race, each one thrown on the ground would cause her to stop and pick it up. These distractions let Hippomenes win the race.

The way she saw it, Hazel and Percy represented Hippomenes, and Ordoa was Atalanta. Hazel could summon gold, so why wouldn't that distract Ordoa just like in the story? As they ran, Hazel held her hand out behind her, sensing underneath for any minerals or jewels- anything. The ground rumbled, and up sprouted a golden nugget.

Ordoa ignored it and ran around, not losing any time in her race to catch Percy and Hazel.

_Alright, that didn't work. New tactic._ This time, Hazel summoned a giant chunk of gold, and it shot out of the ground right in front of their pursuer. The nugget was knee-height, and it had arrived so suddenly that Ordoa ran straight into it, face planting hard into the ground.

Hazel heard Percy laugh, and she turned to face forward to see Percy's mischevious smile. "Nice trick you got there," Percy laughed.

Hazel smiled back and couldn't help but chuckle at the sight of seeing a goddess completely eat it. "Thanks," she replied, still laughing.

They finally reached the steps and climbed up them as fast as they could, feet pounding on the stone and echoing around the tower.

Standing at the top, the two demigods paused to catch their breath. Hazel looked up to see Ordoa running towards them again, even more enraged than before. "YOU DARE TRIP A-"

The goddess was cut off by a second lump of gold popping up and tripping her once again. Hazel heard her face smack against the field, and her legs flew up and over her body so that she did a back bend and plopped onto the ground.

Hazel and Percy broke into a fit of laughter, clinging to the railing on their left to keep from falling over.

"Oh my gods…" Hazel laughed, wiping at her eyes.

"That's comedy gold!" Percy exclaimed, clutching his stomach as he continued cracking up.

"Pun intended?" Hazel asked, finally slowing down her laughter. Her cheeks hurt from smiling, and Percy's face was red from the running and laughing.

"I guess it was," he grinned, taking a deep breath.

All of a sudden, a loud **_BOOM_** shook the temple, and the wall opposite from the half-bloods exploded, sending dust and rubble everywhere. _What the Pluto?_ Hazel thought, stunned by the sudden explosion.

"LOOK OUT!" Percy screamed, and he grabbed Hazel around the waist and ducked away from the debris, shielding her with his body. Through the smoke and dust, Hazel could make out a giant warship sailing through.

"Did someone order a pizza?" an all too familiar voice called out. "One with an extra large side of butt whooping and a diet revenge?"

"Leo!" Percy and Hazel called, getting up and peering through the kicked-up dust to look at the Argo II.

"At your service!" he called from the helm, saluting them and grinning wildly.

* * *

**I must stop here for today. I hope you all liked it! Also, I am very sad to say that...**

**The next chapter will be the finale. If anything, it'll be Part 1 of the finale of Ordoa's Arena. :(**

**Still, there's only so much I can do with this story, and to drag it on past its limits is worse than finishing it at the most oppertune time. **

**Please read, review, follow, and/or favorite! Until next time,**

**-8DemigodRunner8**

**PS: The idea of having an 'artillery' come in and save the two demigods was by Guthans. He did suggest that the Olympians come in, but I decided to have it be the Argo II for reasons that will be revealed in the next chapter. Thanks again, Guthans!**


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